Some Fresh Books to Read

If you’ve clicked on this post, it means you are looking for something fresh to read. Good for you, because I’ve just finished reading some new (to me, at least) books, so I can recommend you a couple.

1. “No One Write to the Colonel,” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

It’s a shame for me to admit that I hadn’t read this book much, much earlier. Marquez was a renowned master of playing with reality: when I was reading his “One Hundred Years of Solitude” I could not give up the feeling that there was some magic going in it—although Marquez’ novels are strictly realistic. “No One Writes to the Colonel” is a story that has given its name to a collection of other short stories written by Marquez; in it, he writes about a retired Colonel, the veteran of the One Thousand Days War, who is desperately hoping for the pension he was promised more than a decade ago. I don’t know of which it is more of: a story or a parable, but “No One Writes to The Colonel” is definitely a book you must read.

2. “Hear the Wind Sing” by Murakami Haruki

I’ve been reading and rereading his other two novels “A Wild Sheep Chase” and “Dance, Dance, Dance” many times over, but recently I figured out that there were two other novels with the same nameless main character. “Hear the Wind Sing” is one of them. This is a seemingly simple story of a young man living in a small town, his desperate best friend, and people they meet and lose. A sad but beautiful book.

3. “On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft” by Stephen King

I always recommend this book to those of my friends who are interested not just in reading books by other authors, but also to those who would like to try writing something of their own. Stephen King is undoubtedly one of the most productive and prominent writers of modernity, with a colossal experience in writing. “On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft” can be called a textbook for all wannabe writers, because the amount of nuances, pieces of advice, shared experiences, and recommendations given by the author is off the charts. Besides, it is autobiographic, so King’s fans should be doubly excited.

4. “Of Mice and Man” by John Steinbeck

The novel revolves around the dreams, hopes, and tragedies of two men—Lenny and George—who lived during The Great Depression in the 1930s. Looking for jobs, they travel around California, wanting to be hired on farms. Lenny is a strong, but mentally-disabled guy, whereas George is smart, but cautious. On one of the farms they work at, Lenny accidentally kills a woman, and a bewildered crowd looks for him for lynching. What George did to save his friend, read for yourself, but keep in mind that this story is as tragic as you can imagine. I warned you.

Unfortunately, I cannot read books with the speed of a machine gun, so I’ll have to make you wait until my next post with recommended literature. Anyways, have fun reading!